It's
3 a.m.at Fermilab. Do you know where your backup 10-ton magnet is?
Do you know what it takes to test it, install it, and get it operating?

You’re developing specifications for a critical component,the coupler,for
the linear collider R & D project. Which design is best from the manufacturing
standpoint,and which vendor can produce it within tolerances smaller than
the thickness of a human hair?

Parts are coming in for the production of Large Hadron Collider magnets
bound for CERN,the European Particle Physics Laboratory. Do the parts
meet specifications?

Does your vacuum vessel leak? Does a mechanical measuring tool need
calibration? Whatever you need, does it meet the standard of being fit for use?
In all these cases, and many more, the people to call are the
Technical Division’s Material Control Department. Operating
largely out of sight, this efficient squad of some 17 lab veterans
with an admirable safety record functions as one of the vital
organs of Fermilab.

“We’re kind of like your kidneys,” said department head Gregg
Kobliska.“If they’re functioning well, and they’re staying behind
the scenes, you’re happy.If they’re not functioning well, they’ll
get your attention in a hurry.”

In Material Control,avoiding that kind of attention is the way
they like it.

“There’s a long list of things they handle flawlessly,”said Rich
Stanek,deputy head of the Technical Division.

That long list ranges from moving multi-ton magnets to measur-
ing magnet laminations just thousandths of an inch thick,from
compiling exhaustive inventories of tooling and kits to inspecting
cranes and lift trucks,and Material Control handles them flawlessly and
safely. The department hasn ’t had a lost-time accident since 1995.

“Our goal is always no incidents,no accidents,”Kobliska said.“I think our
record is indicative of people taking things seriously.”

The record is also indicative of taking seriously what people have to say
about the work they are doing.For example,a portion of the parking lot
outside IB4,where magnets are inspected and stored,has been recently
resurfaced.That was done as a safety measure.

“Before that,it was really rough,”said Kobliska.
“The change came about from people saying,
‘When we ’re moving these big magnets on trailers,
the surface is so rough that something ’s going to
happen.’They told me,and I got the support of
Technical Division headquarters to have the area
repaired.The credit for safety goes to all levels,
to the people who bring it up in the first place,
and to the people who control the funds and show
they ’re serious about safety by matching their
words with money.”

The department is organized in three areas.The
Acquisition Group works closely with the lab’s
Business Services Section in choosing vendors
and ordering technical components.Magnet and
Component Storage houses and keeps tabs
on an inventory of nearly 1,000 magnets,and
organizes parts and tooling neatly enough to keep
a grandmother happy.Quality Control uses an
array of coordinate measuring machines (CMM’s)
including a portable laser unit for oversized
components, instruments for gauging the
magnetic properties of steel,leak testers,
hardness testers,and rows and rows of
meticulously-kept file drawers of micrometers,
calipers,thread gauges and more.

“Material Control functions like the supply line to
the troops,getting them what they need to do their
work,when they need it,” said Technical Division
head Bob Kephart.“Any time the lab ramps up an
effort,such as for the LHC, Material Control is
always very active. Each time we’re looking at
manufact-uring an accelerator out of individual
pieces, they’ll take the items and see how they can
be industrialized for mass production.Any time we
produce a new magnet, that usually represents
a significant investment in new tooling.If you
produce that magnet again, it means you need
the same tooling. The component storage group
maintains all that tooling,and sets it all up to do
the job. They’re a small group that’s important
beyond their size.”

Doug Kelley in the storage group maintains an
on-line inventory of parts and tooling,and all
the tooling features digital photos to help in
identification.

“The database is about 25 pages,with 30 to
40 items per page,”Kelley said.“We ’re responsible
for all the components coming in,and keeping
track of their quantities and where abouts.
Whenever the accelerator ring needs a magnet,
we ’re on call to get it.We basically take in all the
parts needed for building a project here in TD.
Then they go through inspection and quality
control.We put them in stock to be used in a
kit later on.If we get a request for a particular
magnet,all these related parts are pulled and put
into a kit,and given to the Fabrication Group.”

Stability is an important ingredient in the
department ’s success.As examples:Kobliska
has been at the lab since 1978,Rob Riley
of Quality Control is about to mark his 20th
anniversary at the lab;Steve Merkler of Quality
Control has seen service for nearly 22 years.

“I think there’s a message there,” Kobliska said.
“Every function in Material Control is important.
Whenever anybody hires in, we always make
sure they understand that. Because if John
Zwiebohmer’s people in Acquisitions are thinking
they’ve got parts that they don’t actually have
because Doug’s group hasn’t done the proper
paperwork, then we’ve failed. Or if Acquisitions
has done the right thing, and Doug’s group has
done the right thing,but QC didn’t find a defect in
the parts,again we’ve failed. Or if these people
have all done the right thing,and John’s group
didn’t order the right number of parts in first place,
we've failed.Everybody is working together,
everybody’s job is important, for us to be
successful.”

The outlook of appreciating every contribution
carries over into the bigger picture of any effort.
Kelley took note of the work on the Compact
Muon Solenoid detector bound for CERN,and
the collaboration among U.S.and European labs
and institutions in Russia and China.

“We ’re working on our final shipment to Russia,
and that should complete the CMS project,”Kelley
said.“The countries worked together successfully.
The world can be going off in all directions,but
here at Fermilab we have it all going together.”

From Europe and Asia to northern Minnesota for
the MINOS neutrino project,to southern Argentina
for the Pierre Auger Observatory,to every part of
the site,the reach of Material Control extends
throughout the lab ’s mission.

“We rely on good people,and we give them the
latitude and the freedom to do their jobs,”Kobliska
said.“Things get sufficiently complicated that if any
one person tried to stay on top of everything,or
tried to take credit for everything,if would be rather
phony.”

Still,some things are beyond even this group ’s
ability to control.The phone on Kobliska ’s
conference table rings once,and stops,and
Kobliska gives it a bemused look.